What are the secret ingredients to a successful personal and professional life? How do we cut through the noise and the naysayers to stay focused on our goals?
LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU Hall of Famer and the NFL’s 5th all-time leading rusher, spoke to the TCU Alumni Association in Dallas on Friday.
Here are just a few key insights from LT’s Q&A:
Maintain A Zero Entitlement Mentality
As the 2001 NFL Combine approached, many highly projected players cherry-picked their combine events or dropped out all together.
Four top running backs appeared at the combine, but didn’t even work out. Maybe they weren’t 100% healthy. Maybe they weren’t confident in how they would perform. With all of the millions of dollars at stake, not totally unreasonable choices.
However, LT did the opposite.
Even though he was one of the top-projected running backs of the draft, he treated the combine like a job interview. He wasn’t waiting around for anyone to give him anything.
“You can’t be afraid to fail,” LT said. “I knew what I could do. Next, it was just a matter of proving it to everyone else.”
LT’s focus, drive and performance electrified the scouts. Veteran Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin remembers it this way, and draft expert Mel Kiper referred to the 2001 Combine as what “turned out to be the LT show.”
As Mark Twain said, “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
Prepare with purpose, show up and compete. Then you’ll know that win, lose or draw, you gave your best.
Set Priorities and Know Your “Why”
LT recalled some of the advantages he took to the NFL from his time as a student athlete at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
“So many [people] don’t know how to set priorities. You have to be able to do that,” Tomlinson said.
I wonder how many total combined hours LT continued his personal workout after the “official” practice had ended? Can you imagine?
Add up those extra hours of high school, college and professional workouts and you’ll easily end up with a total in the thousands. You simply can’t manufacture that level of commitment unless you set your priorities and know your “why.”
Simon Sinek’s TED presentation famously describes the life-changing power of knowing your “why.” LT understood his early on in life.
As a youth, LT attended the Jay Novacek football camp (a camp LT’s mother, Loreane Tomlinson, had worked extra shifts to pay for). Loreane describes the moment in her excellent autobiography, “LT & Me: What Raising A Champion Taught Me.”
At one point during the camp, Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith stepped into LT’s practice line and gave him a direct handoff during a running back drill.
That was it. The deal was sealed. Case closed (for LT, anyway).
As Loreane explains, “Dainian returned after that camp a different boy. He had always been focused, but now there was a fierce determination within him. From that point on, there was never a doubt in his mind that he was going to play in the NFL. It didn’t matter he came from a small town and didn’t have advantages others had. What mattered was that he knew where he was headed, and he was determined to do whatever it took to get there.”
Question: When was the last time you examined your why?
Why do you do what you do every week? Why do you spend your time, money and energy the way you do? Why are your priorities what they are?
Why?
Are you satisfied with your answers? If you are, then keep pouring into those answers.
Just make very sure they’re worth pouring into…
Some Talk a Good Game, But Can You Get It Done?
LT told a story about all of the agents vying to work with him after his record-breaking senior season at TCU.
It’s hard not to picture Tom Cruise duking it out with all of the other Bob Sugar characters from 1996’s Jerry Maguire.
In LT’s case, he recalled two vastly different agent visits.
The first example regarded one of the most successful agents in the world. Many outsiders would consider him the most successful agent of the era. In fact, perhaps on pure income alone, he was for a time.
However, this particular agent showed up to the meeting with his shirt untucked, looking like he’d just crawled out of bed from a late night at the bar. LT was not impressed. Sure, the “super” agent talked a good game, but…
Compare this with how LT’s eventual agent, Tom Condon, appeared for their meeting–poised, professional, impeccably dressed in a business suit.
Condon didn’t just talk a good game. His ultra-professionalism touched everything he did, even how he dressed.
His demeanor, his appearance, his command of the upcoming draft and eventual negotiations showed anyone watching that this was a guy who got things done. LT joked, on one of the bigger laughs of the day, “It didn’t hurt that he was also Peyton Manning’s agent…”
Watching LT discuss his journey with TCU Sports color analyst, John Denton, you can’t help but think, “Well, of course. There’s no way a guy like LT with this much focus, maturity and work ethic could ever not be a success.”
And, yet, we all know success in life is never so simple or easy.
While we may not rush for 13,684 career yards like LT, we all have our own personal, professional and life “rushing titles” to conquer.
Follow this LT check list and see the difference in your upcoming days, weeks and months.
1. Maintain a personal “zero entitlement” mentality.
2. Ruthlessly prioritize and know your why.
3. Closely discern who talks a good game versus those who get things done.
And, one last thing…
Go Frogs.
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